A variety of covers are used to cover fluid supply pipes, exhaust pipes, conduits and electrical conductors etc. to provide protection, thermal and/or electrical insulation. Generally, a cover is installed onto an outer periphery of a pipe or a conduit being protected and/or covered, using a clamp with a fastening mechanism to fasten the cover onto the outer periphery.
Often the pipe being protected and/or covered is a part of a much larger assembly. During the installation or servicing, the pipe has to be accessed while the pipe is still installed in the larger assembly. This may make it tedious for an operator to access the clamp or the fastening mechanism of the clamp, if the clamp is not properly oriented or positioned, or if a fastener, such as a screw of the fastening mechanism, is not properly aligned in a required direction.
A number of other challenges arise when two or more covers are being used to cover the outer periphery, and the clamp, in addition to fastening the two or more covers to the pipe, also does the job of keeping the two or more covers together. In some situations, the fastening mechanism may be improperly applied and ends up too close to a joint between the two covers, affecting the dynamic stability of the entire clamping system including the two covers and the clamp.
For example, one scenario exists in which covers are installed on an exhaust pipe system of an off-road vehicle. In such a scenario the clamping system may be subjected to constant vibrations and loads. Improperly applied fastening mechanisms may fail causing the entire clamping system to fail under fatigue or impact loading.
In another situation, the clamp may have a band with a number of slots. Any slot, of the number of slots, lying between boundaries of the two covers may result in reduced clamping strength of the clamping system, as that slot becomes a site for localized concentration of stresses. This too may cause the clamping system to fail under even very small loads. Thus, it is beneficial that any such potential causes of failure may be addressed during the design phase of the clamping system itself, before going on to the assembly phase.
In light of the discussion above, there is clearly a need in the art for a clamping system that does not suffer from the above mentioned deficiencies.